Fairway, the 79-year-old gourmet market with 10 locations in the metro area, is getting ready to sell shares to the public. Photo: Lorenzo Ciniglio

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Organic veggies, artisan cheeses and dry-aged steaks — ka-ching!

Fairway Market — the fast-growing grocery chain that got its start 79 years ago as a fruit-and-vegetable stand on the Upper West Side — is readying itself for an initial public offering.

The tri-state area supermarket said yesterday it filed for a so-called “confidential” IPO — a new process created by US lawmakers this spring that allows smaller companies to wait until 21 days before a roadshow for prospective investors before disclosing financial information.

The New York grocer, which is said to have annual revenue nearing $600 million, didn’t give details about the offering, which has been filed under the name Fairway Group Holdings Corp.

While 2012 has been a rocky year for IPOs, fancy food sellers have been a bright spot as the appetite for fresh mozzarella and free-range chicken remains healthy among well-heeled shoppers.

Shares of organic-foods maker Annie’s soared 72 percent in their March debut, while an IPO last week by health-focused food chain Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage priced its shares at $15 — the top of the expected range.

A Fairway spokeswoman yesterday didn’t respond to a request for comment. An official at Sterling Investment Partners, a private-equity group that acquired a controlling stake in Fairway in 2007, declined to comment.

The chain — whose Upper West Side flagship is famously mobbed on weekends — last year added an Upper East Side location, following earlier expansion into Harlem, Brooklyn and Queens.

This summer, Fairway opened its 10th location in Woodland Park, NJ, with stores also located in Connecticut.